How can we Improve Packback Questions?
Packback's product team wants to hear your suggestions about how we can make Packback Questions more useful, friendly, and curiosity-inspiring!
Here's what each of the statuses below mean:
Under Consideration: We are aware of this suggestion and agree that it could be valuable, but are still gathering data.
Planned: This suggestion is in our product backlog and is planned for release in the next 3-6 months.
Not Planned: Based on our product purpose and current team resources, we do not expect this suggestion to be worked on in the next 6 months.
Done: This improvement is now live in Packback Questions!
Please note: This list does not reflect Packback's full roadmap; the list below is limited to improvements and iteration on existing features in the Packback Questions platform. Large-scale features are not included here.
• Would be nice if the “back to community” button took us back to the individual section we were jus
• Every time I read a complete post and I want to go back, I press the “back to community” button.
• But the problem is that it goes back to ALL my students, not the ...
Planned
Create penality for students who plagiarize multiple times in 1 term
Students who are moderated for plagiarism, say, 5x or more should face some form of penalty in either being temporarily removed from the community pending professor ...
Under consideration
Allow the deleting of a Packback Avatar from an account, so users can return to the default avatar.
As a user, I want to be able to delete my avatar from the Edit Avatars page, so I can choose to go back to a placeholder image if I so choose.
Done
Account Settings
Allow for download of participation report to see CS for each individual post by student
Right now when the participation report is downloaded (custom or auto gradebook) - you see average curiosity scores for all posts. What would be more accessible and ...
Under consideration
Identify Grading Periods when students post
My students often post too early (or too late!) If you could reword the "Post" button to identify Grading Period, or have another way of reminding them which Grading ...
Planned
Make text highlighting possible for instructors
Because I select the featured post of the week, and students will be tested on the content, I realized it would be useful to have a highlighting tool where I could ...
Under consideration
"Lock mode" for small groups where students are unable to change section after assigned
Students can change their section at will and they do, it causes a lot of confusion and annoyance for the course team when they are able to do this.
Under consideration
Easier way to find great responses
I like that I can sort the Learner Leaderboard to find the best questions. I wish I could do the same for finding responses, since responses are an equally important ...
Under consideration
Add number of praise a student received on Learner Leaderboard
From professor: "I would find it really helpful to see on this page [Learner Leaderboard page] if a student has received praise (and the number) just like with the ...
Under consideration
Add fill-in-the-blank feature to Packback Polls
Under consideration
Add filter to "Override All Grades" feature
There are currently two options under the override filter "all students" and "students with zero credit." Can we add a filter for "students who participated"? Most ...
Under consideration
Ability to organize posts/add folders
I'd like the ability to be able to sort the Packback assignments into different folders or modules. The running feed has caused some confusion and is atypical of ...
Under consideration
Easier interface for selecting posts for the Curious reader digest
I appreciate that Packback has an option that select posts for the Curious Reader Digest automatically from the featured posts. But in practice, this leads me to ...
Under consideration
Ability for students to hide the Learner Leaderboard tab
Requested by teachers noting that seeing the leaderboard can be anxiety-producing for some learners. Students would like the ability to have a setting to hide the ...
Under consideration
Order featured posts for in-class discussion
Hi, I use the featured posts one session per week as a catalyst for discussion. I would like to be able to arrange the featured posts so that that they are sequenced ...
Under consideration
Banner changes
I have some students that have taken multiple classes with me using packsack, and it would be great to alter the banner design for each class so each of my packback ...
Under consideration
Be able to make copies of the same poll
Some professors have multiple sections of the same course and resuse polls. They don't want the students to see the prior student's responses, but want them answering ...
Under consideration
Show badge if a post was moderated/republished so that the course team can easily review
Having some kind of marker on a post that was moderated and has then be republished will allow course teams to check more quickly if they've been appropriately updated
Under consideration
Please add an option for faculty to require a reliable source for questions and replies
We are in an age in which the need for conversations to reflect science and evidence cannot be overstated. This is particularly true of topics in the social ...
Under consideration
Allow instructors to easily see which posts they have already read
Have the post box or question text change color or include an icon to indicate when an instructor has already clicked into the post (instructor view only). This will ...
Under consideration
Allow professors to change date of 'Recommended Features' email
I really would like to use the 'Recommended Features' email to help me select posts from the week to feature. My assigned topics change from week to week and I only ...
Under consideration
Allow professors to require supporting and counter points as part of the weekly requirements
This may be difficult to handle qualitatively, but it would be nice to have the option to require that replies be supporting points and/or counter points. For ...
Under consideration
Add more in-depth instructions on how to make counter/supporting points in the tutorial
Or just make it more prominent so more people use it, know how to use it, or know that it counts as a response
Under consideration
Allow photo upload for profiles, in addition to avatars
I have been teaching students I have never met in person before. We have developed a strong sense of community here. When we are allowed to be back on campus, I want ...
Under consideration
Student Version of Professor Insights Email
I got an email from Reddit that showed my post history and the upvote activity.
It made me validated and cool because 3 people took enough pity on me up upvote ...
Under consideration
Show student small group in their profile
Include small group designation more prominently in their profile and/or name and avatar
Under consideration
ability to set early deadline for the original post
Many students do not start participating in the discussions till two hours before the deadline, which ends up being unfair on the rest of the students who do not have ...
Under consideration
Number of Views Posts have received
This might be an interesting stat to add to the Learner profile
Under consideration
Suggested Coaching Emails
We've got the reccomended featured emails, but what if there was another email that sent professor's a list of posts that could use some coaching? I had a professor ...
Planned
Make a filter for Prof & TA's where they can find discussion threads for a specific grading period.
I believe it could make things easier for professors and TA's if there was a way for them to filter through all post by a specific grading period. Since all students ...
Under consideration
When opening a posts, open it on the same page instead of a new page
I hope explained this well. Like how when looking at a reddit thread even as you open new comments you still see the initial thread, (I hope I am making sense)
Planned
Allow professors to override the grades within the platform's gradebook
If students need an extension, are getting bonus points, etc., professors should be able to override the automated grade to accurately reflect it. This would prevent ...
Planned
Add weekly student participation expectations on their main dashboard
I think it would be INCREDIBLY helpful if we had something showing students weekly expectations on either their main dashboard or even their community feed. Perhaps ...
Planned
Demonstrate/differentiate the "Ask a New Question" and "Add a Response" button in Packback tutorial
Many professor have indicated to me that some students get confused on how to ask a question vs add a response on Packback during their first few weeks and it creates ...
Under consideration
Add a filter to show posts you've sparked or responded to.
This filter would be useful for allowing students to return to posts they've sparked and/or responded to follow the thread. It could also allow students to return to ...
Under consideration
Ability to view original question when adding Supporting/Counter point
Currently, when you support/counter a response to a question, you are able to view the response you are responding to, but you are not able to view the original ...
Under consideration
Students see post minimum requirements chosen by instructor as they write
It would be helpful for instructors to be able to choose specific requirements, (e.g., use of a reference/citation in responses, description of the part of the ...
Under consideration
Instructor ability to download all student questions and responses in date range
It would be useful for providing individual feedback through the LMS grade book, as well as saving example questions and responses for future semesters, if the ...
Under consideration
Give instructors acess to detailed metrics for their course
While in a call with my support, I was shown a metrics page that allowed me to see how many posts had citations, average post word count and many other metrics. I ...
Planned
Include rules and current debate topic information on a side panel
My students kept forgetting about the deadlines and would post about a topic within the wrong grading period. The information was in the course syllabus, but it'd be ...
Under consideration
Email Reminder notification to students
"Reminder notification to students to complete their posts before the deadline if they haven't yet" is already posted but I would add:
Email Reminder Notifications: ...
Under consideration
Sort Gradebook by Total Grades
I would like to see the total overall grade in terms of points/percentages in the "total participation" report. It would be nice to sort this from least to greatest ...
Under consideration
Class Announcement Feature
It would be helpful if I didn't have to log out to my LMS and could announce Packback related expectations and due dates on the platform itself. This could be in the ...
Under consideration
Additional report option for only scores
It is currently possible to download a CSV file with information on each student. One important use is to calculate grades. However, in many cases the only ...
Under consideration
Add "average score" to summary statistics
Currently, the summary statistics include the total number of questions and responses, the average number of curiosity points, and the total number of curiosity ...
Planned
Add a text box to the grading options where a professor can explain expectations
Chris Kiscaden would like a place to give an example of what is and is not a quality post on Packback and have students see it in multiple places. One place he would ...
Under consideration
Differentiate what type of plagiarism students are being moderated for so they know how to edit it
Explain if it's internal plagiarism vs external plagiarism vs majority quoted content. Without the differentiation, it's tough for students to edit properly
Under consideration
Notification to professor when a student has been moderated 3+ times for plagiarism
So that we can intervene and the student can be communicated with by the course team and stay proactive with university policies
Under consideration
Increase curiosity score minimum in the grade report as the semester progresses
A professor would like to be able to increase the curiosity score minimum for her course as the semester progresses, without it affecting past grading intervals. She ...
Under consideration